Trust Management as an Innovative Factor of Customer Retention: the Negotiation Behavior in Comparison to German and Turkish Business Partners

Abstract

In general, it is well‐known in practice that customer retention is five to ten times cheaper than acquiring new customers (cp. Kotler 2012, p. 429). Hence, customer retention is an explicit marketing goal that is characterized by a number of marketing strategies (cp. Kotler 2012, p. 439). In this sense, customer relationship management (CRM) is one approach to raise the chance of achieving customer satisfaction and binding them normally via contracts (cp. Kotler 2012, p. 437). But such customer retention methods do ensure whether there are reasons for and in what way customer might feel linked or connected with the company. Despite the existence of a contract, which frequently leads to follow‐up orders, there may be customers who show hesitant behavior. Such behavior may be based on or be justified by a lack of trust. But lack of trust in business situations is usually not covered by the terms of contracts, nor reduced prices nor free services because lack of trust is often not justified by clear or rational arguments. Instead, lack of trust often poses an indefinite and intangible condition that is difficult to define with respect to a non‐directional and unmotivated emotion (see Kierkegaard 1992, p. 57).